NCFPD budget continues to shrink; labor contracts loom

The North County Fire Protection District (NCFPD) board of directors was presented with a mid-year budget review on Jan. 26 and told that this year’s budget may experience tougher times.

When NCFPD chief Bill Metcalf presented status of the budget to the board at the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1, 2009, he had anticipated there would be a 4 percent reduction needed, but as the year has progressed, Metcalf said the outcome has been “as bad as it was anticipated, maybe worse.”

“When the fiscal year started, we realized a revenue cut like we haven’t seen in a long time,” said Metcalf. “The...